Help Needed

Hi and welcome.

I'm still struggling with food and exercise, but this site is a tremendous help. So far, I've found that tracking my calories on the site's food diary helps to keep me in check. The trick is to actually do it. I let it go over the holidays and gained back everything I had lost.

At our age, we don't get too many calories so it's hard. If you know ahead of time what you will be eating or drinking, include it in the food diary. Then you'll see how many calories you have left and can adjust yoru consumption for the rest of the day. If you go over your available calories, you're not going to reach your goal as planned.

By exercising you do get to consume additional calories. So, try to work in some exercise every day.

Hope this helps.
Zaza

Zaza has it right on! Plan ahead. Make up a days worth of food and see what it come out to. Once you see what it adds up as you can see if you have extra. Also snacks are important. I try to keep either a sugar free fruit cup, nuts, or a fiber bar in my purse in case I need a carry over until lunch. And most importantly.. drink your water. It takes away the pain of what you sometimes mistake for hunger with dehydration. I keep a water bottle on my desk and compete with my co worker to see who can drink there water bottle first. I try to drink 2 while I'm at work, which equals 6 cups. Once you get into a routine and realize what each item consists of you will become more conscious of what works and what doesn't.

Good luck to you! We are all here for you.

I customized my food journal to include Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, and Dinner. One of the things that I have learned here is that it is important not to starve yourself and that eating every few hours helps. Eating healthy snacks between meals helps you stay energized and not feel hungry. So, plan some healthy snacks and go ahead and eat them when you are hungry. I try to limit my morning and afternoon snacks to around 100 calories (although sometimes it is closer to 150).